Five
by blueluigi
Summary: What if instead of four, there were five people chosen to save the world?


Ness and I walked through the dark streets of Threed after a long day of traveling, completely exhausted. A cold breeze shook the bare branches of the trees, giving the place a sort of Halloween feel. Except there, the ghosts and zombies making their homes in the graveyard, not to mention the evil puppets sometimes seen in the streets, were undeniably real. Only a few people dared to stand outside, while most stayed safely locked indoors. Everyone in town was scared out of their minds, with one man even giving up and joining the enemy side. I could almost feel the evil presence in his mind, and knew for sure that it was a being called Giygas, the one who would eventually destroy the earth if not stopped by the "chosen five", of which Ness and I were the first two. "Ness, could we please call it a night?" I asked the boy walking next to me.

"Not yet. I'm sure we're…well we're getting close to something. I know it!" Ness was so bent on finding answers that I'm not even sure why I bothered to ask. We were both pretty sure that we would find the next chosen person in Threed, but I was at least ready to rest for the night. "Hey, let's talk to that guy!" He raced off to where a man stood near the hospital.

"Ness, please wait up!" I ran as fast as I could after him.

"Hi sir, what do you know about the zombie problem?" Ness asked, as he did with every person in town. At first, the man just laughed.

"The zombies? Oh, I'm scared of them, just like any reasonable person, but I've got faith that Sarah will save us all! You kids have heard about Sarah, right?" We had heard plenty about Sarah that night. Everyone seemed to know about her, and everyone seemed to believe that she would save them somehow. The people in the circus tent in the center of town were by far the most confident. They even gave her a special name, "Sarah the Slayer". Suddenly, Ness turned toward me, grabbing my arm and pulling me away.

"Come on, Paula. Looks like we have to find this girl." Frustration was all over his face, and I didn't blame him. It got tiring hearing everyone talk about the same person. It was like how he described the people of Twoson talking about me. Maybe Sarah was the next chosen person. We made a sharp right turn, bringing the graveyard into view.

"Alright, alright, calm down!" I stopped in my tracks, effectively halting him as well. "It's going to be ok, I know it!" Ness stared at the ground for a moment before looking back up at me.

"Ok, I guess I believe you," he said, dropping my arm. "Hey, that's a person over there!" He pointed over my shoulder to the main entrance of the graveyard. I turned and saw that he was right. Once again, he ran off. Getting closer, I could begin to see more details of the person, a girl about our age, thirteen, wearing simple, grey clothing. She stood motionless even as it became obvious that we were coming toward her. Right away, I could sense something different about her. It was hard to place at first, but as we came within feet of her, it hit me. She was not afraid. The constant fear present in the rest of her town was nowhere to be seen on her face. In her eyes though, I could see determination mixed with a little pain, which was to be expected, living in Threed. "Hi there," Ness said quietly, staring into the mysterious girl's eyes, which I realized were an unusual electric blue.

"Hello," she replied in a whispery, cool voice, "You know, it's not safe here." She then looked at me, nodding to recognize my presence. Her eyes quickly scanned the area.

"We know. Um…know much about the zombies?" Time seemed to slow down, and everything was suddenly so much calmer around the girl.

"Yes, I certainly do. I'm guessing you guys aren't from around here?" Her eyes darted around again, and for the first time, I noticed that she held a gun in her left hand.

"No, we're from Onett and Twoson." I answered.

"Hmmm…how did you get through the tunnel?" I opened my mouth to reply, but Ness cut me off.

"It's a long story. So can you tell us about the zombies?"

"Sure I can. You see, Threed was completely normal until very recently, about a week ago I'd say." The girl paused and took a breath. "Then the zombies started appearing, along with the ghosts. Their main territory is in this graveyard, but they've been spreading quickly. Some ghosts have even found their way into the Two-Three tunnel, making it nearly impossible to get through." She paused again.

"Anything else?" Ness asked.

"That's just about all I've told anyone. No one wants to hear much of it."

"We do!" Ness yelled, louder than necessary.

"Ok, then," the girl seemed confused, but she went on. "Even a few normal people have given their lives to the zombie force, which backs up my idea that there's some outside force involved. Something so purely evil…but no one believes me." Purely evil…_Giygas!_ She shared our views! Ness's eyes widened.

"Pure evil…" he looked toward me. "Do you think?"

"Yes," I could only respond.

"We know what you're talking about. It's become a problem in our towns too. Ordinary people and even animals are attacking us because…" he looked at me again.

"We've been chosen to stop this evil, and we're looking for another girl and two more boys. We think we'll find the next person in Threed, and we think we'll need your help."

"There's this girl that everyone talks about, Sarah, and she might be chosen too. Do you know much about her?" Ness continued.

"You're speaking to her." She said with a small smile and touching the silver badge on the sleeve of her shirt. It must have told her name, but it was dark, and the streetlights were too dim to see almost anything.

"So you…you're the zombie slayer?" Ness asked in disbelief.

"I am." Sarah nodded. "They forced me into it. It was just this week, they just handed me a gun and sent me off. I was the youngest one chosen, and I don't even know why. Maybe it's because have the unnatural ability to kill, and not feel a thing emotionally." She stared at the ground as an awkward silence filled the air. "It's both a blessing and a curse. Watch me." At the slightest sound of movement behind her, she turned around. A few seconds passed, and I didn't see anything. But Sarah's eyes remained fixed on a point near a bush. Quiet surrounded us on all sides, and the suspense was building.

"AAAAAAA!" A zombie sprang up from the bush, wailing and waving its arms wildly in the air. I screamed in shock, but quickly raised my frying pan to strike. The zombie ran toward the three of us at top speed. As it came closer, I noticed its dark green skin and torn clothes. Its red eyes locked on Ness and me. Quickly, it almost glided across the graveyard. I peeked at Sarah, who wearing her normal expression, raised her gun and fired. The screams of the zombie stopped. The world fell dead silent once again, except for the small thump of the zombie hitting the ground. Cautiously, I peered at Ness. He was staring at Sarah with a surprised look on his face. She walked two steps toward us.

"And that's how it's done," Sarah said in her same, casual voice.

"How did you-?" I started. Never _ever_ had I seen someone kill another living being, well, did the zombies even count as living? But even so, Sarah was just a teenager like me. How could she? I didn't think she would kill it! This was wrong, this was _murder!_ Realizing that I was starting to breathe quickly, I tried to remember everything I had learned about…people like her. What Mom told the preschoolers- _"It's not that they're a bad person; they just make bad choices." _What they told us at school- _"They just need help. Something must be wrong in their life if they enjoy other people's pain."_ Nothing helped.

"You just need a headshot. That's all it takes." Sarah explained. The anger rose inside me. She was _sick_, she was _evil_. She absolutely _could not _be one of the chosen. I couldn't take it. I ran at her, frying pan ready.

"You monster!" I screamed. She looked up from the ground, but she was too late. I had caught her off-guard. I hit her over the head, once, twice. Her screams echoed as she sank to the ground. I didn't even care what I did to her anymore. _Love your enemy_ repeated over and over again in my mind, but for once I ignored it. "I hate you!" I cried, raising my arm for one last strike, but obviously Sarah's head was still in the game. She dropped the gun and pulled out something seemingly attached to her shirt. It was a shining handle, but when she pushed a button, a blade popped out of the top. My hands were shaking above my head. Was I actually going to do it? I shouldn't have hesitated. Sarah sprang to her feet, easily grabbing my weapon and throwing it as hard as she could. It narrowly missed an approaching Ness. She held up the blade, pointing it in my direction like a warning sign.

"I don't want to do this to you." Sarah's breaths were still even, her voice still cool. How was that? I was unarmed, but I wasn't ready to lose yet. I noticed that she stood in a locked position. Her only expression of fear, her only flaw. I was about to dive at her legs, but someone held me back. Ness.

"Paula! Um…calm down!" I tried to break away, but unfortunately he was too strong. "Relax!" I took a breath. Sarah, standing across from me, wiped her hand over the top of her head. Blood colored her fingers when she lowered them. She shrugged, unable or unwilling to do anything about it. The only sign of her pain was in her watering eyes. Suddenly, I was overcome by guilt. What had I done? It was like…I wasn't even me! I relaxed, and Ness let go of my arms. Why did I attack her? _Because she killed the zombie._ What was I thinking? She was only protecting her town! What had come over me?

"I'm sorry," I said, too quietly to be heard.

"You put up a good fight. Maybe you should become slayers." With that, Sarah turned her back to us. "I have feelings, you know! I'm a human, just like you. We're fighting for the same cause!" Crying, she ran away from us. What had I caused?


End file.
